I just installed Stellaris with the Utopia DLC. What am I in for?

A mediocre 4x

waiting for at least a year so that 400$ worth of dlc can come out and make it fun

paradox in space, about six expansions before it gets good

>>376778052
boredom and apathy

>>376778052
A waste of time.
It's pretty much the Skyrim of 4x games.

>>376778391
So...I'm likely to love it if I loved Skyrim? Because I did.

>>376778489
yeah that's what he meant

go play your amazing new game

>>376778489
The new update is pure shit by the way.

>>376778052
Distant Worlds Universe is better

>>376778052
It's alright. Diplomacy is better, but still not where it needs to be. AI is still always either in love with you or -9999 to trade fucking star charts. Unity as a currency does help the midgame, but have fun when the guys with OP technology because they only have 3 planets get the +200 fleet capacity tradition and wreck the fuck out of everyone.

Honestly the combat is still the most disappointing thing.

What races are best as a Stellaris newfag?

>>376779883
Play around with the civ maker instead of going for premade races.
It really depends on which version of the game you are playing. Unity builds for exmaple are very good in Utopia.

>>376780185
Even for my first game? I played the shit out of Master of Orion 2 back in the day and ALWAYS made my own custom race, but it seems like that would be easier to do if I had a little hands-on experience first.

>>376778052
A pretty fun game for a bit until it get's a bit repetitive. Still needs a lot of improving even after a year and two DLCs.

>>376778052
baby's first gsg

>>376781040
Is it even grand strategy? I am not expecting grand strategy.

>>376781139
It's more 4x than grand strat, but it's real time, whereas most 4x is turn based, and you run your empire at both the macro and micro levels, which is pretty grandstrat.

How much does the planet type matter? I mean I get that the more similar a new world is to your species preference, the more habitable it will be, but is one type inherently better or worse than another?

>>376782446
Whatever planet type you pick, you will feel like you only find other types of planets.

No, it really doesn't matter.

>>376778052
A fun 4x hated for literally no justifiable reason other than the fact its 4x

We need more love for this genre, /v/ is just too retarded to play 4x these days.

>>376782446
If you're minmaxing it sort of matters, but thats a level of play that you dont need to worry about.

Pick whatever fits cosmetically.

>>376783135
Does it matter even then? Just genemod the shit out of your peeps.

>>376783006
>>376783135
Cool. How about weapon type?

>>376778052
The best space 4x game there is.
>inb4 endless upset shitposting

Stellaris simplistically is actually its greatest asset in a genre that is fucking bloated to the max. Every other space 4x game has so many utterly pointless crappy features, more often than not automated by the AI just because no sane human would want to do them, that it ruins the entire game.

Stellaris is just to the point, it needs a lot more work but its also salvageable unlike every other space 4x game thats either abandoned or sliding down the path of failure like ES2.

>>376783068
I just got the game a week ago, and so far my biggest complaints are:

1) the midgame consists of sitting and waiting for counters to tick down and bars to fill up.

2) Diplomacy consists of everyone blobbing into defense-pacts that make localized wars impossible. It feels like 1914 all the time.

3) Wars consist of piling every unit you have into a single stack and trying to wreck the other's guy's stack in a single battle. I was expecting to have to manage multiple fleets and fronts and such, but no.

So does the game seed the other species based off your own species' stats? Every game I've started I've spawned next to species that share one or both of my ethics.

>>376783632
Kinetics. Missles are absolute dogshit outside of torpedoes. You only need lasers for plasma.

>>376778052
Paradox's most popular game, somehow

While it's still ~4 expansions before it gets good I think it's got a fuckton of potential and a lot of the ideas behind it are really cool and interesting. But the gameplay needs some work especially in the midgame.

>>376783470
That depends on your roleplay and also how difficult your universe is.

>>376783632
Kinetic. Early game its the best, and it will last you until late.

Kinetic gives bonuses to armor and shield damage
Lasers just to armor
Missiles are unfortunatly pointless because PD is too strong and they 'despawn' when their target dies so you get a lot of wastage shots.

Late game you usually build your fleet to counter armor, swarms of fighters/bombers (which are a type of weapon) or shields. This depends on what you're fighting against.

>>376783638
You've hit the nail on the head of the biggest complaints of the community since release. The mid game is better than it used to be, but its still fairly stale.

They've said they want to do a diplomacy expansion/update and a combat expansion/update. So we're all waiting for those.

Also unrelated but if anyone is playing on version 1.6, you need to opt into the beta build of 1.6.1. The 1.6 build makes it so the AI doesnt declare war.

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My total newfag alien race. I wasn't modeling it after anything in particular except for a bit of my own personal ethical inclinations, which are admittedly of the *tips fedora* variety.

Pls r8.

>>376783763
The big issue right now is the complete and utter absence of an intergalactic economy, which permeates everything from management to logistics to diplomacy. So long as there are only three tradeable resource categories, no production chains, and no trade simulation, everything will feel like shallow, uninvolved dogshit.

Of course, Paradox will never properly implement any of that. They've had two updates dedicated to fixing combat and the meta is still completely fucked. If they can't get rock paper scissors right, they'll never be able to simulate supply lines or even basic mercantilism. Especially not since the guy responsible for Vicky 2's (admittedly janky) economic engine left.

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>>376784261
>there will never be an economic simulation as ambitious as Victoria 2's ever again

>>376784067
Actually considering switching to oligarchy. This science directorate description actually looks pretty based even if it's even more fedora tier than the democratic one

>>376784067
>Pls r8.

No bio/10

>>376778052
It takes way to long for anything fun to happen.

>>376784067
>no xenophobia
>no militarist
>not wanting to genocide all other alien species by eating them to death

>>376784594
Kek /pol/ detected

>>376784261
>They've had two updates dedicated to fixing combat and the meta is still completely fucked
No they haven't.

Not a single update has focused on combat.

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>>376784491

>>376784594
Those games are always fucking boring. You should either play as an authoritarian Hegemony that bullies and bribes all of the "noble democracies" into supporting it, or you play as Space America and wage a bunch of liberation wars to carve up your enemies and assimilate their remnants into your glorious Space NATO. It's the closest the game gets to realpolitik.

>>376784067
Dont take pacifist. It means you cannot cede a planet, which means you cant take a planet from any other faction.

Thats the sort of thing you take later once you know how to play

>>376784821
>Space America and wage a bunch of liberation wars to carve up your enemies and assimilate their remnants into your glorious Space NATO.
That actually sounds fun desu, thanks.

>>376784594
That's such an original concept, anon.

How on earth did you come up with it.

>>376784821
Honestly it doesn't feel like there's enough depth diplomacy wise for those sort of playthroughs to be completely enjoyable yet.

>>376778052

Galactic Genocide Simulatoar: The Game

It's currently one of the best games Paracucks have developed.

This thread makes me want to buy the game, but all the dlc is pretty expensive and I don't really want to drop $50 on it for all the content because I am poor.
Is this game good even without the dlc?

>>376780571

Don't worry, any build or species can and will succeed. Avoid making a Hive Mind and you'll be fine for your first game. Roleplay the shit out of your species, and pick traits accordingly.

>>376784821
>>376784931
OP here, I agree, that does sound neato.

>>376784761
>what are Asimov and Heinlein
You know, the patches where they went in and completely rebalanced all of the components and shipbuilding?

>>376784836

You can still liberate and vassalise, which is almost always the better option.

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>>376784815

I should nut up and go ahead and turn on Ironman right away, shouldn't I? Or should I be a fag?

>>376785070
That applies to basically every playthrough, tbf.

>>376785149
Good lord, no. It's serviceable at best with the DLC.

>>376785309

Ironman is only for achievments.

>>376785149
Buy the game, pirate the DLC.

>>376783636
Would you be willing to elaborate on the pointless crappy features?

>>376785380
Where can you get the pirate DLC?

>>376785149

If you like 4X games but want more a more focus on politics and species then it's one of the best games in the genre. Utopia is really needed though because it adds a lot of great stuff like super structures and such.

>>376785331
>>376785380
Damn. Alright, it looks like a great game, so I think I'll go for it. Thanks anons.

>>376785473
Pretty much any site that hosts torrents.

>>376785149
The game is $12 on humble right now

You god damn poorfag

So many great mods. I think I have a legitimate addiction.

>>376785912
>Star Trek overhaul
>Star Wars overhaul
>EvE overhaul
>40k overhaul
And people wonder why Stellaris is popular

>>376785891
Huh. Forgot about that place. I'll need to check it more frequently. Thanks!

>>376785957
>Star Trek overhaul
Oh shit nigga I just came

>>376786429
Its probably the most polished overhaul as well, has all the race weapons and ships by the look of it

>>376786521
So....Ferengi, Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian, whatever? How many race options are we talking about here?

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>>376786835

How does this game compare to Distant Worlds?

>>376787131
Distant Worlds is obviously better but the graphics is garbage, so garbage it makes me prefer Stellaris just because it's more modern

No, seriously, I boot up DW and the Windows 95 inference makes me puke

>>376785912
There's no good Mass Effect mod though

>>376785957
>40k overhaul
where?

>>376787283
>caring about graphics in a 4X game
lol stick to endless space you aspie

>>376787049
Hory shet.

>>376783632
Kinetic masterrace.
Get kinetic artillery, slap them to your cruisers.
Get plasma cannons, slap them to your cruisers.
Build lots of corvettes, destroyers, and cruisers, but build a lot of cruisers. Corvettes are there to soak damage and drop shields. Put plasma and photon torpedoes on them. Destroyers are there to punch shit. Make them mini cruisers. Cruisers are your shit wrecker. Make about a third of your total cruisers have point defense. Instead of full plasma/KA.
Get one maybe three battleships and put a giga cannon on them and may e some flak artillery. They're just there to make your fleet pretty.
PS: flak artillery>tier 3 PD because FA can be used offensively

>>376778052
bad game

>>376784821
>or you play as Space America and wage a bunch of liberation wars to carve up your enemies and assimilate their remnants into your glorious Space NATO.
Literally me
>Ayo alien despot who doesn't want into my federation, stop oppressing your people
>*liberates three of your systems*
>*makes protectorates of liberated systems*
>integrate

>>376784821
If you want to be 100% like USA, be fanatic Xenophobe/Millitarist so every liberation produces ISIS-like purifiers.

They you can liberate them AGAIN

>>376784815
gotme

>>376784931
>>376785168


Most of Stellaris can be described in a way that sounds fun


Then you realize you're just slowly painting the map by moving your doomstack and engaging in what is probably the worst combat system ever implemented in a 4x

Too much micromanagement for late game to be fun.

>>376788794
>probably the worst combat system ever implemented in a 4x
Pfhthahahahahahahahahahahaqhahahahahahaha

No. Endless Space.

My scientist gained a level from scanning shit. What does this actually mean?

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>>376784815
Fuck me, that was good.

>>376789003
He can scan shit betterer.

>>376788947

ES has crap combat but almost very single flaw of ES combat applies to stellaris with the addition of having to deal with retarded ship AI and WEDGE FORMATION YEAH

>>376788794
Combat system is too barebones but still functional. If you want worst combat you go to Endless Space, that convoluted mess is unbearable, even though the rest of the game is alright.

>>376789003
There are certain things you can't scan without having appropriate level scientist.

What's Endless Space and why is it's combat bad?

>>376789531
*its

>>376789531
Another space 4x. It's alright mechanically and has really good graphics, but for combat you get locked into separate environment and have to play something like three-step RPS with about 20 elements all of which you have to first research. It's really overcomplicated and ends up being more about random guessing than strategy.

So one of my objectives is to build a mining outpost, but there are no resources to mine in my home system. So first I have to build a frontier outpost in the next system? There's also a planet I want to colonize in that system so how does that work?

>>376790124
You can build stations in any systems that are within your borders, no need to build any prior stations.

Pretty fun in the beginning, gets boring in the middle. Never reached the end because I got bored. Just like every other Paradox game.

>>376778052
>start a quick game for tutorials
>spend an hour playing without realizing it
I think I'm having fun with a video game. I'm not used to this.

>>376790281
The only system in my border is my home system so I guess I got fucked by the starting map layout? I guess I should just build the colony ship. That would be the more resource efficient way of getting the system in my borders since I want that planet anyway. The frontier station would be a waste.

>>376791389
You can only colonize planets within your borders. So your only choice is to wait until they grow.

>>376791562
Oh okay so the borders will expand on their own then? Good to know. I don't think the in-game tutorial had explained that to me yet. What's that based on?

>>376791562
>You can only colonize planets within your borders
Stopy lying on the internet.

>>376784067
Pacifist is terrible.

>>376784815
oh shit nigga

Why would a non-idiot okay Stellaris when Distant Worlds exists?

>>376792030
play*

>>376787359

Grafixs are important for every game and every genre, except for games that don't have graphics at all like a text adventure.

What is good about Distant Worlds and why would one play it over Stellaris?

>>376792030
>$59.99 USD
>for 1998's top sprites and spreadsheets

>>376793718
>caring about graphics in a 4x game

Like I said, why would a non-idiot play Stellaris over Distant Worlds?